Kuroi Chi no Noroi
by Just Stay HIV Positive
Summary: Despite Maka's anti-demon wavelength, the black blood is getting harder to control and Soul is in danger of being overwhelmed. Can they save him before it's too late? Can you go back after you've crossed the line?
1. Chapter 1

**Kuroi Chi no Noroi**

**Hey! It's me again! Okay, so this chapter is for Zimeus. Thank you for your wonderful review and you should know that you are the reason this sequel is coming out. I told myself that if just one person requested it, I would write this and you are that one person, so thank you! :)**

**To the rest of you: I am disappoint. Just kidding, I know I made you all wait an inexcusably long time for the last chapter of Kuroi Chi no Yume.**

**So this is the sequel to Kuroi Chi no Yume. For those of you just joining us, I urge you to read that story first. You don't have to I suppose, but a lot more stuff will make sense if you do.**

**Well, this story has all the same warnings and such as the first. There will be blood, violence, some gore and angst. As usual, I do not own anything Soul Eater. I don't even have a legal copy of the series… uhh, you didn't hear that…**

**Well, here you go:**

**CHAPTER ONE**

Maka Albarn closed the door softly behind her. Despite all her gentleness however, the door still made a final sounding thunk as it closed heavily. One look and the scythe meister's face would be enough to tell anyone that she was upset. Even the densest of people could see the distraught expression on her features.

"Eh, well that could've gone worse." Of course that didn't mean they necessarily cared.

"What are you talking about?" The young blonde whirled to her partner, eyes fierce. "A four week suspension? How could it be worse?"

"I dunno, a five week suspension, maybe?" Soul Eater offered with a shrug, not bothering to pull his hands from his pockets and break his cool-looking slouch.

"What are we going to do for four weeks?" Maka complained, after glaring at the weapon until it was apparent he wasn't fazed.

"We could actually take a break." The white haired youth suggested; a hint of a grumble in his voice. "Shinigami knows we needed it already." Maka frowned, debating whether it was worth it to expend effort on a Maka-chop.

"Besides," Soul continued, not even glancing at her, "you're the one who took on the two star mission when you're only a one star techni-" Now it was worth it.

"We're a team, remember?" Maka scolded, holding an obscenely large encyclopaedia and lecturing her partner who was curled up on the ground. "That means we both take responsibility."

"If this is taking responsibility, when do I get to hit you with a book?" Soul grumbled, rubbing the sore spot on his head Maka always seemed to hit. He turned to face his meister, whose eyes spelled his demise. He was saved however by a tall raven-haired girl and a blue-haired ninja.

"So what happened?" Tsubaki asked, offering Maka a friendly smile. Forgetting about Soul for the time being, the blonde meister turned to her friend.

"A four week suspension!" She moaned, stashing her enormous book in Shinigami only knew where. Tsubaki patted her shoulder sympathetically.

"Well at least you didn't have to give up all the souls you collected." She pointed out. Maka conceded with a sigh. She glanced at her partner who was swapping goofy grins and high fives with Black Star.

"Yeah, I suppose it could have been much worse." She agreed softly. The taller girl was quiet a moment before brightening up.

"Oh yeah, Black Star and I thought it would be a good idea to have a party. To celebrate that you guys are okay-"

"And captured your first two-star kishin!" Black Star interrupted, grinning wildly. Maka and Soul swapped looks, both knowing what the other was thinking. It would be a while until they attempted another two-star mission. But until then…

"Well at least someone recognizes it as an accomplishment." Soul smirked and Maka grinned with him. Despite all the trouble the twin kishin eggs had been, (and all the trouble they'd got in upon their return) Maka couldn't deny she was feeling a little proud of herself.

"Oh and we invited Kid and his weapons as well," Black Star was saying, "So make sure you make enough food for everyone. Especially for my big appetite!"

"Wait!" Maka said, a frown forming on her brow, "what do you mean make sure I make enough food?"

"The party's going to be at your place of course." The blue-haired ninja turned to her as if this had been obvious from the beginning.

"I thought this was a party for us!" The scythe meister cried indignantly.

"It is, but our place isn't big enough for a party and Kid's house freaks me out with all the symmetry stuff."

"He has a point…" Tsubaki tried, helpfully.

"Not you too!" Maka groaned, but the chain scythe only smiled apologetically.

"Aw, you can do it, tiny tits," Her weapon smirked, "after all, if you can defeat a two-star kishin, I'm sure you can-" The remainder of his sentence was cut off by a large hardcover book crashing down on his head.

` "You're not getting out of this so easily," Maka fumed, "As I said before, we're a _team_. So that means this is a _team_ effort."

"I swear that book gets bigger every time." Soul grumbled when he could finally see straight again. Maka only 'hmphed' in reply.

"See ya at seven!" Black Star waved, already taking off.

"Sorry Maka…" Tsubaki smiled an apology before following her energetic meister. Maka sighed, shaking her head hopelessly.

"Honestly…" Her eyes drifted to the clock on the wall and widened significantly.

"Damn, we're going to be late, come on Soul!" Without giving the scythe time to respond, she seized his wrist and all but dragged him down the hall after her.

==-S-O-U-L-_-E-A-T-E-R-==

Soul waved to Black Star and Tsubaki as they parted ways after school, the ninja waving back enthusiastically while Tsubaki only smiled in her usual way.

"Don't forget! 7:00!" Black Star cupped his hands around his mouth to holler although it really wasn't necessary. Soul grinned and nodded.

"Yeah, see you then!" He called back, turning towards the street their apartment was on. It was still a good five minute walk to the building and Soul increased his pace, preferring not to be alone with his thoughts for any longer than necessary. Thinking about certain things meant admitting certain truths he would rather not.

_"Denial isn't healthy, Soul."_ Ah yes, and then there was the voice. Until recently, that accursed voice had only plagued him in his dreams, but ever since his last… "incident" the voice had manifested itself in an annoyingly real way. One that made him question his sanity. Ignoring the voice, he continued walking.

_"The cold shoulder, is it?"_ The voice cooed inside his head. Soul continued to ignore it, trying to distract himself with anything he could.

_Huh, it's getting cloudy. I wonder if it will rain tonight after all? The weather channel said sun, but it looks quite overcast. I guess it doesn't really matter since we don't have to go out tonight anyway. I hate to admit it, but this suspension isn't all bad. I could do with a break-_

_ "Are you really that determined to ignore me, Soul?" _The voice taunted. The scythe grit his teeth and sped up his pace a little more. Any more and he would be running.

_"You can't hide from your own mind, Soul."_ He hated how true those words rang.

_"The madness is already inside you."_

He could feel it.

Pumping through his veins.

Swirling in his head.

Squeezing around his soul…

With a final burst of speed, he bolted the last half a block to his apartment building and flew up the stairs. The weapon fumbled with his key for a moment before finally fitting it in the lock. He yanked open the door, slamming it shut behind him and leaning his back to it for good measure. Sinking slowly to the ground, Soul buried his head in his hands, trying to catch his breath.

_"What is it you think you can run from?" _The voice

smirked. His head jerked up and with a gasp he yelled:

"Get out of my head!"

"Soul-kun, nyaa?" A purple-haired head poked around the corner, eyes full of curiosity and a touch of concern.

"Uh, sorry Blair…" Soul muttered, hands dropping to the ground. "Hey is Maka back yet?" he added, hoping to change the subject quickly.

"Not yet," The cat lady replied, emerging from the bathroom in a rather revealing outfit. The weapon pinched his nose to stem the inevitable blood flow.

"I'm off to work now," She said, pulling her bag over her shoulder. The cat hesitated a moment, studying Soul.

"Do you want me to wait until Maka gets back?" Soul hesitated. In truth, he really didn't want to be alone right now, but of course saying something like that would be totally uncool.

"Nah, you can go, I'm fine." He was thankful for women's intuition or whatever the hell Maka had called it. Either way, Blair seemed to be able to tell he was lying as she set down her handbag.

"Are the nightmares bad again?" She asked in a serious tone that seemed somehow wrong coming from her.

"Ehh." Soul answered, with a one-armed shrug. He wasn't sure just how much the cat knew about his terrifying nightmares, but no doubt he'd woken her on a few occasions with his screams. Blair eyed him with genuine concern… at least until the sound of a key scraping in the lock filled the room.

"Poor Soul-kun!" She cried out, a devious sparkle in her eye as she embraced the unsuspecting weapon in a giant hug, cleavage pushed into his face.

==-S-O-U-L-_-E-A-T-E-R-==

"I'm ho-" Maka sentence cut off abruptly at the sight of her partner in the cat's embrace, blood spurting from his nose.

"Soul, you idiot!" She yelled furiously, dropping the bags of groceries. Within only a few moments she rendered the scythe weapon nearly unconscious and was glaring daggers at the cat woman who waved cheerfully in reply as she made her way out the door. Still scowling, Maka slammed the door and turned to her partner.

"C'mon, you have to help me make supper, since no one else is willing to do it." Soul grumbled something under his breath, but complied, helping her unload the groceries and begin preparing the meal. They worked in comfortable silence for a while; the only sounds the simmering of the water in the pot and the rhythmic clacking of the knife on the cutting board. The scythe meister kept an inconspicuous eye on her partner, shooting him looks out of the corner of her eye.

_He says he's been feeling better. It's true he hasn't had any nightmares in a while; at least, he hasn't woken up screaming, so I guess that's an improvement… Still though, he hasn't really been himself either._ Every now and then, Maka would catch a scowling look on her partners face and once she was pretty sure she saw his lips forming silent words. She bit her lip wondering if she should ask. She didn't want to embarrass him, but at the same time, they were partners, right? They should be able to talk to each other about such things. The last thing they needed was to get their synchronization all messed up again. She was about to speak when a knock came at their door.

"It's barely 6:30!" Maka moaned.

"Well it's obviously not Kid," Soul smirked, "He'll be here at exactly 7:00, no doubt." Maka snorted in agreement, and sure enough, she opened the door to find a grinning Black Star.

"I'm just making sure that you made enough food for my big appetite!" He informed her, puffing out his chest and placing his fists on his hips. Maka sighed and swapped looks with Tsubaki who smiled her usual apologetic smile.

"I came to help with the supper." She told Maka softly.

"Tsubaki-chan! I knew you wouldn't let me down!" Maka embraced the weapon happily before leading her to the kitchen.

"Come on, Soul!" Black Star called loudly from the other room, "Let's leave the girls in the kitchen where they belong and watch some TV! They're playing that awesome Samurai movie right now!" One glaring look from Maka told Soul what his answer had better be. He glanced from her flaming gaze to the frilly pink apron he'd been stuck wearing and back to her again. His trademark crooked grin broke out over his face as he pulled the apron over his head, tossing it at Maka.

"Good luck with supper!" He called out, making a dash for the living room while his meister was distracted with the pink apron thrown at her face.

"Soul!" She fumed for a moment before shaking her head and smiling. Even if he bugged the hell out of her sometimes, it was good to have the usual Soul back. Tsubaki didn't miss the whole exchange and she glanced at Maka questioningly when her look of rage turned to a smile.

"Is everything okay?" She asked softly.

"Yeah," Maka replied, "everything is just fine." The taller girl studied her a moment before smiling and turning to the task at hand.

"Do you want me to cut these vegetables then?"

"Yes please!" Maka grinned, moving to stir the contents of the pot before it boiled over. The two chatted comfortably as they worked, talking about school, recent missions and their ridiculous partners.

As Soul had predicted, at precisely 7:00 the doorbell rang again, hailing the arrival of Death the Kid and his two weapons. Maka and Tsubaki brought dinner out to the living room as Soul and Black Star (and Patty) were too engrossed in their movie to eat in the kitchen. Finding a place to sit, Maka placed her plate on her lap, turning to face the TV that was the current center of attention.

"His form is totally sloppy," She pointed out, "He left himself completely open there!"

"Shh!" Soul and Black Star said in unison, not even taking their eyes off the screen.

"If there were multiple opponents he would have been dead so many times already-"

"Shh!" They called out again. Maka rolled her eyes and continued watching. Admittedly when she stopped analyzing the samurai's form so critically, the movie wasn't half bad. It was cheesy, yes, but she found herself enjoying it nevertheless. The credits finally rolled and the two boys cheered.

"Man, that was awesome!" Black Star said, grinning.

"Yeah that samurai guy was so cool!" Soul agreed. Maka just rolled her eyes again, but decided to avoid pointing out she could have probably taken him in a fight. Although it did make her smirk to herself a little.

"So how was fighting the Two-Star Kishin anyway?" Liz asked curiously.

"Tough." Maka admitted, remembering the raw speed and power the twin Kishin eggs had held. Soul nodded in agreement, slightly more somber now.

"We got lucky." He said, clearly remembering as well. Sensing the grim turn the conversation had taken, Tsubaki tried to change the subject to something lighter.

"So anyway, the midterm exams are coming up this next week. Maka, do you have a study partner yet?"

"Not yet," the blonde admitted, before shooting her partner a dirty look, "but I think I'm going to have to make sure _someone_ actually studies this time."

"It's still a week away!" Soul moaned.

"Well it's not like we have anything else to do anyway, since we're suspended. We may as well get some studying in. At least try to pass this year, okay?"

"Oh I'll pass!" Soul grinned darkly, swapping evil looks with Black Star.

"Without cheating." Maka growled.

"At least you guys have lots of time for studying," Liz said, "for us it's just been Kishin egg after Kishin egg."

"Hmm," Kid agreed, "there does seem to be an unusual amount of Kishin eggs lurking around Death City lately." Maka frowned, thinking back to her and Soul's mission in Germany. Their targets had scaled 42 stories to reach them in their hotel room. It seemed like an awful lot of effort to go through when there were much easier targets at ground level. Maka was about to comment when she was interrupted by Patty.

"We're on TV!" She was saying, pointing enthusiastically at the set in the corner of the room. Sure enough there was a shot of the enormous building of their school on the screen with a newscaster standing in front.

"Have they finally decided to honor the great me?" Black Star asked excitedly. After getting the image of Black Star starring in his own TV show out of her mind and resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Maka reached for the remote and turned up the volume.

"…Shibusen School which has been training these young children infected with this illness to fight…" The black-haired newscaster was saying into her microphone.

"What the hell is she talking about?" Soul muttered.

"…The company Tanomoshii Mirai is currently at the head in development for a cure for this 'Weapon Virus' as it has been named, we reached their spokesperson for a comment earlier today…"

"They're making a cure for being a weapon?" Soul asked in disbelief. Maka shook her own head in wonder.

"…We're developing a cure that has looked very promising in our testing so far. The side effects have been mostly minimal, but we're working on ways to reduce them now," A young man in a white lab coat was talking now, "This cure will revolutionize the lives of those living with this virus." The camera cut back to the long haired female newscaster now.

"It's good to know that there is hope for those who are suffering with this Weapon Virus. TM says they hope to be able to release the cure to the general public within the next 6 months. In other news a recent string of brutal killings is leading police to believe…"

"Unbelievable." Maka said, still shaking her head.

"I guess some people actually don't want to be weapons…" Tsubaki said softly.

"Well good for them," Liz growled, "but that doesn't give them a right to start calling it a virus and saying we all need to be 'cured'." Kid nodded in agreement.

"Unfortunately," The shinigami said grimly, "humans tend to fear that which is different from them. And if they fear it, it must be bad. As tragic as it is, this is the mentality of humans." The sobering truth settled over the group for a moment until Maka remembered she had made pie for dessert. This proved a sufficient distraction for Black Star and soon after for Patty who challenged the assassin to the last piece. The inevitable pie fight that ensued served as an ample distraction to everyone else. After Tsubaki finally settled things by simply splitting the final piece in half (although Black Star argued that being bigger should merit him a bigger piece). The pie was wiped off walls and other surfaces, goodbyes were said and the guests went home in a cheerful mood.

Maka flopped onto the couch, eyeing the mountain of dishes the party had produced tiredly. She glanced pointedly at Soul who held up his hands in defense.

"No way," he argued, "I am not doing all those by myself."

"I made supper," Maka countered, "so it's your turn."

"I helped for a while too. And Tsubaki helped too!"

"Fine." The technician sighed, "but not tonight, I'm exhausted." Soul grinned victoriously and stretched, muscles sore from sitting on the squished couch for several hours.

"Well," he yawned, watching as Maka couldn't resist but yawn as well, "In that case…I call the bathroom!" He leapt up, racing down the hall with his partner hot on his heels. The scythe slammed the door in her face with a flourish and taunting smile. Maka pounded furiously on the door, which Soul ignored.

"It's my day to have the bathroom first!" She hollered. Soul continued to ignore her, whistling as he went about his business. Defeated, Maka trudged to her room to change for the night. She was surprised to find herself smiling.

==-S-O-U-L-_-E-A-T-E-R-==

_ He was running, always running._

_ "What is it you think you can run from?" This time the voice had a physical form. A small red demon with an enormous head and a suit appeared in front of him. He skidded to a stop, checking over his shoulder.__ He didn't even know what he was looking for, but all he could see was blackness anyway._

_ "What are you running from, Soul?" The demon asked again. He didn't know. What was he running from?_

_ "You can't hide from yourself. That's how people go insane, you know." The small monster seemed to find this funny as it laughed heartily. Soul scowled at it, checking the blackness again for… for something._

_ "You're still not talking to me," the demon feigned hurt, "I've been nothing but help and you just keep ignoring me." Soul didn't take the bait; the little monster knew what usually got him talking, but he wasn't going to fall for it this time._

_ "Huh, that usually works," the demon grinned, "well then," He snapped his oversized fingers and dim light filled the place. It was enough to make out the black and white tile, the stiff-backed chair and the skipping gramophone in a corner._

_ And Maka._

_ Soul stepped back and hesitated. Why was he moving away from her? There was a reason, right? Was Maka what he had been running from? But that didn't make sense… why would he run from her?_

_ "Sou-" His meister's voice was cut off by a hand emerging from the shadows behind her, cavering her mouth and pulling her back into them._

_ "Maka!" He lunged forward, eyes adjusting to the dark. Someone was on top of her, attacking her. _

_ "No!" He ran towards the figures, coming to a shocked stop several feet away as the sound of ripping flesh filled the room. The bottom figure fell limp and the attacker slowly turned towards him. Soul felt his body seize up in fear and disbelief. The face slowly curved into a crooked smile, pointed teeth drooling blood the same color as its eyes._

_ It was him._

_ With horror, he suddenly realized he was on top of his lifeless meister and there was something warm covering his arm._

_ "No…" he choked out, horrified. "No!..."_

==-S-O-U-L-_-E-A-T-E-R-==

Since the moment on the plane when Maka had first used her anti-demon wavelength, purging the insanity (if only temporarily) from her partner's soul she'd been able to feel him a lot more clearly. Their souls had been a lot closer, even when they weren't synchronized. She could sense how far away he was, which direction and even strong emotions. The distress coming from his soul now was strong enough it made her jerk awake from her sound sleep. Worriedly, she slipped out of bed and padded her way outside her partner's door.

"Soul?" She called softly. When no answer came, she hesitantly opened the door, peering in. Soul was twisting and turning in his sleep, clearly in the throes of some nightmare. She hurried to his bed, summoning the powerful feeling of her mother's anti-demon wavelength. When the feeling swept her body, she pushed it into her fingertips and placed her hands on Soul's shoulders.

"Purge!" The technician commanded, the wave moving from her body to her partner's singing through her fingers and enveloping the weapon's body. Soul went limp and Maka panicked a moment before his eyes opened, blinking slowly.

"Maka?" Suddenly alert, he sat up abruptly, gasping for air as if he'd been underwater.

"Are you okay?" She asked softly. Soul nodded slowly, the tension seeming to leave his body.

"Sorry to wake you…" He muttered.

"It's fine. I'm just glad I can actually do something to help now." Maka smiled. Even Soul managed a small smile too.

"Thank you. I really do feel better now." Maka knew he wasn't lying either, she could sense the peace that was now surrounding his soul.

"I guess we should get some sleep then," Maka smiled, "those dishes aren't going to do themselves tomorrow morning."

"You had to bring that up," Soul groaned.

"Good night," Maka grinned.

"Good nigh-" A scream cut him off suddenly. It was shrill and filled with terror. There was only one thing that could make a person scream like that: imminent death. The two partners exchanged wide-eyed looks to confirm the other had heard it as well.

"Soul?"

"Let's go." Without hesitation, Maka bolted from the room and all but flew toward the door, nearly crashing into it in her rush. All but flying down the stairs, she turned down the alley in the direction the scream had come from.

==-S-O-U-L-_-E-A-T-E-R-==

"Wait up!" Soul tried to call to his partner, but she was already out the door.

"What does she think she's going to do by herself anyway?" He muttered to himself as he closed the apartment door Maka had left ajar. Hurrying down the hallway, he was surprised to find she wasn't even anywhere in the hall.

_Damn she can move fast!_ He swerved down the first alley next to their apartment expecting… well he wasn't even entirely sure what, but it hadn't been the image of Maka comforting a terrified looking woman with a bleeding arm. He slowly walked up next to them.

"Are you okay?" Maka was saying to the distressed woman who just kept shaking her head. The scythe meister turned to Soul grimly.

"It was definitely the work of a Kishin egg. Kid was saying there have been lots in the area lately, but I didn't think they would wander so close." Soul nodded in agreement.

"Well," Maka continued turning to face him now, "we can't just leave it be, can we?"

"You know we're suspended." Soul reminded her.

"Then we won't keep the soul," Maka replied determinedly, "but we can't just let it go."

"Right." Soul agreed, turning his arm into a blade and glancing behind him, sure he heard a noise. The woman gasped and half-screamed, falling back to get away from Soul.

"You!... Y-You're one of them!" Soul looked at her in confusion, glancing from her horrified face to his blade arm.

"One of them?"

"The monsters!" She trembled, scrambling to get away.

"Ma'am, he's not-"

"The other one could turn into a weapon too! It eats souls! I saw it eat Gracie's soul…" The woman pointed a trembling finger and for the first time Soul saw a mutilated looking corpse lying in the corner and realized that all the blood on this woman might not be hers. Feeling sick to his stomach, he turned to Maka, hoping she would have some kind of answer to this.

"I-" before she could continue a roar sounded above them. An enormous beast leapt from the building above, hanging in the air silhouetted against the moon for what seemed like an impossibly long time. It landed with and overwhelming crash, one of the meaty arms catching Soul's torso as it leapt for Maka and the other woman.

"Maka!" Soul screamed. His body collided with hers and chaos overtook the next few moments. The sound of rending flesh rang in his ears and he was sure his heart stopped beating for a moment.

"Maka!" He reached out, relieved to find her arm, and then became less relieved when he became aware that her entire torso was soaked in blood.

"MAKA!"

**Well it's a long chapter at least XD. Even if it does end in a rather cruel cliffhanger. ****On another note, I was determined to get this done tonight and ended up staying up til 5:30 writing. Crap. I just realized I have to get up in half an hour… Well that sucks. Also, a note about that bit about Maka criticizing the samurai in the movie. It kinda seemed like something she would do. My friend and I do it too. He's a third level bushido master and I'm training on my first level (essentially it's samurai training) so we can always nitpick at the actor's lack of technique. It's quite fun actually XD. Well, on with the sleeping. A whole half hour of it. Yipee. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Kuroi Chi no Noroi 2**

**Okay, so it's been a while since my last update…uh…a long while and I sincerely apologize for that. I wish I could say I have a good excuse, but I'm afraid I really don't. I haven't given up on this story though and as always, you're lovely reviews and faves are what keeps me going! XD **

**Thanks everyone!**

**CHAPTER TWO**

Of all the things he had faced in his lifetime, this might be the most difficult to deal with. Even as he stood there he could feel the tension building in his brow, the sweat sliding down his back. His fingers twitched, just itching to fix this mess. He closed his eyes and tried to picture soothing thoughts.

_Anubis' pyramid._

_ The school from the outside._

_ My room at home._

It wasn't working.

Death the Kid reopened his eyes, looking around the Death Room again, the scattered wooden cross-shapes littering the room in no particular pattern was driving him crazy. The rest of the school was neat and tidy. It was perfectly symmetrical from the outside, and even the classrooms were relatively symmetrical. But this room! He tried to refocus his mind; he'd been the one to call the meeting in the first place! It was difficult though. Taking a calming breath the young reaper focused his attention again to what his father was saying.

"Indeed," The elder Shinigami agreed, "it does seem like we've had a lot more incidents lately."

"All I want to know is whether it's a human or a Kishin Egg responsible for all these murders." Kid cast a disdainful look at the speaker. The Death City Chief of Police, (Tanaka was it?) crossed his beefy arms over a sizeable torso. He was a large man; both horizontally and vertically, although not fat mind you. He spoke bluntly and seemed to have rather little respect for the god of death. Kid wished they hadn't had to include him in this conversation, but knew that his father was trying to include humans on their plans as a show of trust.

"If it's a human, I'll know to get more security during the nights, but if this thing is a Kishin, I don't want to be wasting any manpower." It made sense, Kid supposed.

"What worries me," Spirit said, looking genuinely concerned, "is how close to the kids' dorms these things have gotten."

"It seems strange that so many of the attacks would be near the meister and weapon dorms, but that's where most of them have been occurring." Sid agreed.

"Hmm." Stein observed. He had been unusually quiet during most of this meeting, though Kid was pretty sure he had some theories that he just hadn't shared.

"Kid, you said the one last night was a Kishin Egg, correct?" His father asked, turning back to him.

"That's right," Kid agreed, remembering the incident the previous night. His father had asked him to keep an eye out near the area where a lot of the attacks had been happening. Upon hearing a woman scream, he'd hurried to the scene, arriving too late to save the girl, but had run into Maka and Soul trying to protect the girl's mother. He closed his eyes for a respectful moment at the loss.

"What course of action would you suggest, son?" His father asked. Kid glanced up, looking at his dad questioningly. The elder Shinigami gave him a slight but encouraging nod. His father had been encouraging him lately to be more active in the workings of Shibusen and while Kidd appreciated being kept in the loop, he worried about his father's reasons. Suddenly remembering everyone in the room was waiting for his response; Kidd pulled himself back to the present.

"Well, last night was definitely the work of a Kishin Egg," he answered seriously, "It's hard to say whether all of the killings have been caused by Kishins, but I think the safest course of action would be for Shibusen to establish some sort of night patrol system. We can keep track of how many Kishins are spotted and hopefully these killings will stop."

"A fantastic idea, son!" His father agreed with his usual enthusiasm. Sid nodded agreeably.

"That should work. We can start assigning teams to different areas of the city, set some kind of schedule…" Kidd's mind drifted again as the adults discussed the details.

_It was definitely the work of a kishin last night, but Spirit is right; why are the attacks always so close to the dorms? _His gaze wandered again to Professor Stein, whose gaze gave away nothing. The light glinted off his glasses hiding his eyes, but Kidd could see the pensive look on his face.

_What is he hiding?_ Kidd wondered with a frown. The man surely knew more than he was telling.

"Well it's settled then!" The god of death interrupted Kidd's thoughts with his announcement. "Starting tonight, we will have four teams patrolling the dorms during the night, in addition to the usual hunting. We must make sure to have at least one three star meister in charge of the operation during the night and they'll report back to you every morning, Spirit." The red-haired Death Scythe nodded approvingly.

"Well then," The chief of police grunted, "I hope this puts a stop to all these killings. I'll keep in touch." With a curt bow, the man excused himself, marching stiffly for the exit. Kidd caught Spirit's wrinkled nose and soft 'hmph' out of the corner of his eye and smiled to himself. Apparently Maka's father didn't take too kindly to the man either.

"Well, was there anything else, son?" Shinigami asked, turning to the raven-haired boy.

"No father, I believe that was everything." He answered, "If you'll excuse me, Liz and Patty wanted to go visit Maka in the hospital."

"WHAT?" Spirit cried, turning to Kidd in horror, "You didn't mention my Maka was in the hospital!" Kidd mentally groaned as he remembered _why_ he hadn't mentioned it earlier. Maka was going to kill him for this.

"Well…"

"Papa's coming MAKA!" The eccentric weapon hollered as he tore down the path to the door, without a glance back. The young shinigami sighed, glancing around again at the room. He really needed find some symmetry before the last of his nerves snapped.

==-S-O-U-L-_-E-A-T-E-R-==

Soul anxiously paced the room for the umpteenth time. He was sure he was going to start wearing hole through the floor at this rate. He glanced again at the unconscious figure in the bed.

_Maka._ Was this how she had felt when he was injured? It was weird to think about. His mind wandered again to the previous night's events.

How he'd clutched Maka's blood-soaked torso.

How the Kishin Egg had stalked over, closing in on them for the final blow.

How Kidd had managed to arrive just in time.

Then there was the relief of realizing the blood covering his meister was not her own, but the other woman's blood. It was soon followed by guilt for such relief when he caught sight of the woman's disemboweled body. And thus, they ended up here. Medusa-sensei had assured them that Maka had only sustained minor injuries, a few cuts and scrapes and a concussion that rendered her unconscious. Soul had been assured that she would awaken soon and after a quick checkup would be free to leave. That had been 12 hours ago. Or more precisely; 12 hours and 17 minutes ago.

_She should be awake already, right? It's been a while… What if something is wrong? What if she's hurt worse than we thought? What if-_ His thoughts were interrupted by Maka's fluttering eyelids, followed by a low drawn out groan of discomfort.

"Maka!" He exclaimed, before remembering to play it cool. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Sore." His partner moaned, stretching her arms above her head, "What happened?"

"Well, there was a Kishin Egg last night," The scythe began, hesitantly, "it attacked this woman…" Maka's eyes suddenly widened and she turned sharply to Soul.

"Is she…?" Soul glanced away, not meeting her inquisitive gaze.

"No…" He heard the technician breathe. There was a moment of silence before Maka's fists pounded the bed covers.

"Damnit… That poor woman and her little girl…" Soul was silent, not drawing attention to the tears that traced his partner's cheeks. He understood her anguish. Despite all the Kishins they hunted, it never seemed to be enough; and innocent people were always the ones to pay the price.

"I was right there! I should've-" The thought of what had happened to the other lady happening to Maka made Soul look up sharply.

"Maka, you did everything you could. There's only so much one meister and weapon can do." Maka was silent for a moment, before wiping the moisture from her face with the back of her hand.

"You're right." She said softly, "we can't lose sight of our goal. When you're a Death Scythe…" She looked up at him and the weapon grinned, finishing her thought.

"We'll be the strongest team there is!" He concluded. Maka smiled and opened her mouth to reply when the door suddenly slammed open.

"MAKA!" Soul saw a flash of red hair fly past him before he could even react. Spirit launched himself at his daughter with wide open arms, ready to comfort her back to health and was met abruptly with the spine of a rather heavy book crashing down on his head. Soul glanced from the stress lines on Maka's head to the deflated and twitching form of Spirit and sighed. Well, at least it wasn't him this time.

==-S-O-U-L-_-E-A-T-E-R-==

"Black Star!"

"Huh? Wha-?" The blue-haired ninja awoke with a start, nearly tripping over his own feet in his haste to stand. Tsubaki sighed and steadied her partner.

"We're supposed to be on guard duty, Black Star." She reminded her partner for the umpteenth time that night.

"Hah!" Laughed Black Star, "We haven't seen a Kishin all night, they're probably scared to get anywhere near the great me!" The technician planted his fists on his hips and laughed boisterously.

"Or it's because we haven't left this spot all night…" Tsubaki pointed out meekly. Her meister didn't seem to hear her as he continued laughing.

"I really think we should check around the city." Tsubaki said when her partner had finally finished laughing.

"Hmph," The meister replied, dropping again to the dusty ground, arms propped behind his head.

"Kid was saying there were some pretty strong Kishins hanging around Death City lately," The weapon tried again, trying to make it sound like a challenge to entice the stubborn technician.

"Okay Tsubaki," Black Star finally agreed, "We will go to ease their minds, but if any Kishin shows up they will be dealing with more than they can handle by the great Black Star!"

"Right!" Tsubaki agreed happily, turning into the small ninjato. With a professional twirl, Black Star grabbed the weapon out of the air and took off, bounding effortlessly towards the center of the city. The young ninja grinned at the feeling of wind rushing past his face, letting out a loud "Yahoo!" before he even realized it.

"Uh Black Star," Tsubaki's face appeared on the slim blade, "it's kind of late, maybe you should keep it down…?" She wasn't sure whether her meister had heard her or not, but he didn't let out any more triumphant shouts. They stopped, perched on the precarious point of a rooftop as Black Star scanned the area. He crouched silently for a moment, the only noise in the night the soft spring breeze ruffling through his blue hair.

"Maybe if we checked on the other side of Shibusen-" Tsubaki began to suggest when she was interrupted.

"Sh." It was brief, curt, verging on rude and so completely uncharacteristic of Black Star that Tsubaki fell immediately silent, turning sharply to look at her partner. His brow was creased in concentration, mouth turned down in a slight frown and eyes straining to see in the distance. Tsubaki blinked in surprise. Who had replaced her carefree partner with this suddenly serious one?

"I hear them." Black Star stated, his mouth breaking into a dark grin. He leaned forward, diving from his perch, rolling effortlessly on contact with the ground and breaking into a sprint without slowing down.

"Them?" The weapon questioned, "How many did you hear…?" The assassin didn't answer as he sharply rounded a corner. Tsubaki recognized this area as the Shibusen dorms and briefly recalled that there had been a large number of sightings in this area. Her thoughts were cut short however when they encountered their first Kishin egg. Without losing any speed, Black Star leaped into the air, cutting the monster's throat with a backhand slash. Before the beast's death throes had finished echoing on the stone walls, two more Kishin eggs appeared from their left.

"So you want to challenge the big me huh?" Black Star announced boldly, grinning from ear to ear. "You should know that I will be the one to surpass god one day, how do you like that?" He pointed at the nearest kishin as if daring him to argue. Tsubaki sighed. For a moment Black Star had embodied the perfect assassin she'd always hoped he could be, but apparently he just couldn't contain his ego for more than a few minutes.

_I should've known…_ The weapon thought to herself, smiling in spite of the crazy situation she found herself in. She almost forgot to scold her meister for his act of bravado, but his boisterous laugh brought her back.

"Black Star, we need to eliminate these kishins; they're too close to the student dorms to be safe."

"You're right, Tsubaki," then to the monsters he added, "so which one of you is first to face my greatness? Huh?" One of the kishins took on the ninja's challenge and rushed the pair with a spiky club for a left arm.

"Tsubaki, chain scythe!"

"Right!" Black Star held out his hands and Tsubaki's chain materialized in them, blocking the monster's attack. The young assassin quickly wrapped the chain around the monster's hand, disabling his weapon and swung one of the scythes up, cleaving the kishin in two. He didn't have enough time to recover, however, before the second kishin clubbed him across the head with a thick forearm. The blue haired teen flew a few feet before tumbling into a heap on the ground.

"Black Star!" Tsubaki cried, fearing the worst. It had been a solid-sounding hit. The determined technician growled defiantly, shakily climbing to his feet, blood covering the side of his face. He swiped the blood out of his left eye with the back of his hand, gripping the handle of the chain scythe more tightly. The kishin gave a low, rumbling growling, licking its' lips before making another rush at the injured meister. Black Star tensed a moment before sprinting towards the monster, scythe in each hand and chain trailing behind. The beast raised its thick arm again, but as the ninja approached he leapt high into the air, out of the kishin's reach. The chain behind him caught the monster's throat and with a roar, Black Star twisted around, bringing the kishin crashing down. Finishing off the subdued creature, he heaved an enormous sigh before his trademark grin made its' way onto his face again.

"Black Star, are you okay?" His weapon wanted to know, her face appearing concerned on the reflective surface of the scythe blade. The teen pushed a mop of blood-soaked hair back and grinned at his partner.

"I'm great, and we just managed to get 3 souls in one night!" Tsubaki smiled back.

"That is great!" She agreed, enjoying her partner's unusual enthusiasm in collecting souls. "but I really think you should go see Medusa-sensei about that cut on your head."

"A little scratch like this won't bother the great me!" Black Star laughed, "It's just a little cut and I'm so big so it's really nothing at all! Hahahaha!"

"Right…" Tsubaki shook her head, but smiled all the while. Black Star's laughter suddenly stopped abruptly. Tsubaki could tell he was on edge by the way he suddenly gripped the scythes tighter. Several pairs of glowing eyes were making their way towards the pair.

"Kishin eggs…" Tsubaki murmured, "why are there so many?" Indeed, it seemed everywhere the pair turned, another set of glowing eyes found them. The scythe weapon could hear the sounds of steel blades clanging against one another, heavy footsteps of others and the low growl that seemed to come from every direction at once. She could feel sweat slide down her back and noted Black Star's palms were clammy too. This was way more than they could handle. The heavy tension in the air was suddenly broken by a loud scream. One of the kishins glanced around, sniffing suspiciously before slowly backing up into the shadows. The others followed suit more reluctantly, some casting long glares at Black Star before they moved on. After what seemed like an eternity, it was just the two of them in the middle of an empty street. Tsubaki let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"That…that was something else. We'll have to report this to Shinigami-sama. In fact, I think we should right away…Black Star?"

"Huh?" The ninja's attention seemed to be fixed on a nearby building with a light in the window.

_Isn't it rather late to be awake? _The weapon thought to herself. _Hey, isn't that Soul and Maka's place? What are they still doing awake?_

** I will do my best to update as soon as possible. I'm aware that there wasn't much plot progression in this chapter, but I assure you, it is coming. I'm going to try to update more regularly but alas I can make no promises.**

**On a side note, I'm going to our Anime convention next weekend and I'm finally cosplaying! :D I kinda wanted to do Soul Eater, but our group voted on Fairy Tail, which is also cool. I get to be Erza :D**

**Thank you all for your patience and reviews!**


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